Part of what makes any college campus vibrant and alive are the extracurriculars. From sports, fraternity/sorority life, student government, study groups and of course, clubs, there are no shortages of activities fellow Wildcats can get up to. Of the many, many clubs on campus, perhaps the most “thoughtful” one is Philosophy Club. Philosophy Club started about two years ago, headed up by senior Jamison Nemecek, creative writing and philosophy major as well as senior environmental studies and philosophy major Sage Henke.
Philosophy club meets in T.J. Day room 222 at 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday.
As a philosophy major, it was natural for Nemecek to get the club up and running.
“I was encouraged to start the club by my philosophy professor, Kenny Knowlton, assistant professor of philosophy, who explained how he had formed a club during his undergrad,” said Nemecek.
Nemecek modeled his own club after Professor Knowlton’s own club, borrowing the same general structure.
“Our club is primarily designed around creating panel discussions with faculty. This club is structured around planning productive discussions that we want to see faculty have,” said Nemecek.
Nemecek, in an effort to avoid directionless conversations, decided to avoid freeform conversation. Instead, he wanted to have a more focused panel.
“We make the questions, we decide who we want to have on the panel, we organize it, everything. So while students lead, it’s organized around a specific goal and structure,” said Nemecek
Outside of taking inspiration, Nemecek’s main goal with starting the club was to spread philosophy outside of those already invested in the subject. Though that wasn’t his only ambition with it.
“The goal of the philosophy club is to pursue topics of conversation that us students are most interested in, to show the relevance of philosophy for understanding present issues,” said Nemecek. “We want to encourage students to engage in philosophy on their terms, with their interests.”
When I visited the club,the conversations were varied and lively. A great deal of attention was paid to how questions were phrased or how other questions could be improved to lead to richer, more in-depth conversation.
While having conversations with other philosophy majors is insightful, Nemecek didn’t want to alienate non-philosophy students either.
“I love having non-majors come by! They always have valuable things to contribute, things that some of us other philosophers haven’t considered. All perspectives are welcome,” said Nemecek.
As a non-major and someone with no vested interest in philosophy, at no point did I feel out of the loop or lost. My thoughts and contribution were held in the same regard as the others, who were regulars.
Nemecek expressed the importance of having an additional space for philosophy students and non-philosophy students alike; he didn’t want to lose sight of why philosophy was personally important to him.
“Philosophy can tackle any topic. It concerns the way in which we think. It’s how we critically reconsider the way we understand the world around us, even in the most basic ways. Plus it’s fun,” Nemecek said.
Though Nemecek’s time at Linfield isn’t over just yet, he still has the future on his mind.
“As a senior, I want to accomplish as much this semester as I can. Going forward, I just want the club to outlast me, for students to continue it after I’m gone. There’s some really good freshmen that are interested,” Nemecek said.
Philosophy Club is one of the many clubs on campus and offers another opportunity for students to expand their horizons. I’d encourage anyone who has even a passive interest to give the club a try. Really, give any club on campus a try. It’s a fantastic way to meet new people and add onto a collection of experiences.
